Class Notes

Class Notes for 1976

No time to waste, so let’s jump right in. Doug McMurrey is in his seventh year at Kinder Morgan, a large energy company based in Houston. “The oil patch has been a great place to be.” He noted that Houston had its coolest spring in memory. Doug considers himself lucky in so many ways, including going to Colby. He hopes we all see our years in Maine as one of our great life experiences. Doug is in Maine at least every other year for a couple of weeks—best sailing in the world! * Betsy Bowen continues to teach English at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where she is happy to have been joined by another Colby grad, Michelle Farrell ’01. This summer Betsy traveled to Kyrgyzstan to work with Central Asian business faculty on writing in the business curriculum. * Jay Sarson is enjoying his new role in life: “Five grandchildren all under three. Three boys, two girls. More fun than your own children.” * Joy Sawyer-Mulligan was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Chair at the Thacher School, where she has taught for 29 years. She was recognized the day after writing a piece honoring Colby music professor Paul Machlin. (What goes around comes around!) Joy and her husband, Michael, who is head of the school, celebrated their 32nd anniversary in June. Their daughter, Annie, graduated last year with honors from the University of Colorado, Denver, and was headed to law school after completing an advanced paralegal degree. Joy is convinced Annie’s pursuit stems from all the times she admonished Annie as a child with “So sue me!” * This September the East Bay Women in Business Roundtable held its 15th annual reception and honored our very own Dale Marie Crooks Golden MacDonald with its Trailblazer Award. From my Facebook friendship with Dale Marie, I can see the energy and pride she has from her work helping women and nonprofit organizations get the financing they need to follow their dreams. Congratulations! * Lydia McAnerney’s son, Andrew, graduated from Augsburg College in Minneapolis while daughter Rebecca is studying environmental science at the University of Minneapolis. Lydia notes, “Both are close enough that we see them often, which is lovely.” Her husband, John, is starting to subcontract out some of the heavy-lifting portion of his landscape business, and Lydia continues as enrollment director at GRS in St. Paul. This summer she drove to both the West and East Coast to celebrate her 60th year. (Yes, our class is approaching THAT milestone!) * Jan Gorman retired from the insurance business this summer. She noted that it was an interesting career but she needs time for her bucket list. She planned to start a small business providing “long-arm quilting services” to quilters at quiltify.com, essentially to fund her fabric addiction! Her daughter and son-in-law are returning to the United States, so Jan can now travel to places other than France and England. Her coda: “Most important, we are all healthy and happy.” * John Lumbard writes that his daughters “are successfully launched.” Youngest daughter Laura is in a management training program at PepsiCo; eldest daughter KC decided, on completion of a master’s program in counseling, to become a rowing coach. John recently sang in a Nashua Symphony chorus with our classmate Peter Labombarde. He sees Peter Coz ’75 on business trips to California, which always include soccer with a Mission Bay pickup group and surfing lessons in Encinitas. For years John has longed for a client in Utah and now has two in Park City. The result? He skied there just before Easter. * That wraps up this column. Look forward next time to updates from Diane Lockwood Wendorf and Paul Kueffner—and maybe you! Please remember to send your Colby Fund donation. Look for us on Facebook under Colby College Class of 1976.